Halo Fanon:Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards
Welcome to the Fourth Annual Halo Fanon Wikia Awards for 2011—2012. We are honoured by your attendance to this annual community awards election and celebration, the fourth, and hopefully, not the last of its kind. This project is coordinated by the Halo Fanon Wiki Administration, and we thank the Star Wars Fanon Wiki for donating the concept of this annual community ritual to us. We look forward to your participation in this community-wide celebration, and hope that you will all participate! Now, read the regulations, nominate your favourite articles, and vote! Changes From the Third Annual Awards As you may know, there have been some minor changes made to the rules. They have been listed in the sections below, but have also been placed here to save users the trouble of looking for them if they are already familiar with the old rules. #The Best Roleplay of the Year category is now defunct, and has been replaced by the Best Collaboration of the Year category. Roleplays are still valid for this category. #There is a new "Best Short Fiction" category, for short stories, logs, narratives, or collection of non-article writings. This will ensure that writers who create short stories will stand a chance at winning an award instead of trying to compete with the Best Novel Category. #Articles must be over 9,000 bytes long, and novels must be over 72,000 bytes long (short fictions do not have a specific length requirement). If you're not sure how to check the number of bytes in your article, click "history" and check the number of bytes on the current version, between the "contribs" and "undo" links. #"Recycled" articles will not be accepted into the nomination process. It would be unfitting give an "annual award" to an article that has received minor or no edits for the duration of 2011. Every article's edit history will be checked when nominated, and will remain valid for nomination only if it has received moderate to major changes/improvements throughout the year. Note that this rule is based on quality rather than quantity. Even if a user makes 500 edits to an article throughout the year, it will not be considered valid if the content remains for the most part, unchanged. In contrast, even if a user makes only a single edit all year that drastically improves the article in writing and/or format, it can be put up for nomination. Therefore, there is no specific number of edits required for an article to be valid for nomination; as long as the author has put in a decent amount of effort into improving it, it can be entered into the event. This new policy will motivate users hoping to win an award to contribute sufficiently (even if not consistently) to their articles, rather than be inactive all year and wait for each year-end so they can drag up an old article to nominate. #The introduction of the top three articles of the year awards prompted the voting process to be broken down into two stages: categorical and placement. The categorical vote is simply the same process as the overall process from previous years, but has now been shortened from four weeks to three to give users time to participate in the placement vote. When one article from each category has a winner, they will be pitted against the other winners of the other categories (excluding collaboration, novel, short fiction, and writer). The last 9 days will be used for the placement vote, beginning on December 21st, 2011. Users will vote upon the 14 articles by the same process as the categorical vote. All categorical and placement awards will be given on January 1st, 2012. Regulations #Nominations and voting begin at 12:00 AM midnight GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on December 1st, 2011 and will conclude promptly at 12:00 AM midnight GMT on December 31st, 2011, at the time of the New Year! Exceptions to this are listed below. Final winners will be announced and receive their awards on January 1st, 2012! #'Voting Qualifications': Users eligible to nominate and vote must have been users for at least four weeks and have sixty or more mainspace edits in order to vote. Because of the style of this celebration, sockpuppets and sock masters are not invited, and will be promptly banned from the Wiki and barred from future voting. #'Nominations': ##You may only nominate articles for a category so long as it expressly fits the definition of each category. Articles that are not eligible for a category will be removed by the administration. You may request a clarification about the definition of any category from Sona 'Demal. You may not nominate an article for more than one category. Articles that are not eligible for nomination will be removed without any notice if they are found to have "content issues" "Unrealism", "Canonicity Problems", etc ##You may nominate an unlimited number of articles written by any number of other authors for any number of categories. However, you are restricted to nominating only one of your articles for only one category for the whole election and no more. This is to promote professional sportsmanship. For categories pertaining to users (e.g. "Best Writer of the Year"), you may not nominate yourself. You may only nominate yourself for one article in the entire election, and this does not pertain to self-nominating yourself as a user. ##Articles must be at least 9,000 bytes long, and novels must be at least 72,000 bytes long (short fictions do not have a specific length requirement). You can check the length of a wiki page by going into its edit history and checking the number of bytes on the latest revision, between the "contribs" and "undo" links. ##"Recycled" articles will not be accepted into the nomination process. An article that has received minor or no edits for the duration of the year is not eligible for the event. Every article's edit history will be checked when nominated, and will remain valid for nomination only if it has received moderate to major changes/improvements throughout the year. ##You must nominate articles according to the proper format (listed below). Fill out all the fields when submitting a nomination, and post the completed nomination form underneath the category that you're nominating the article in question for. ##Perceived breaches of good conduct and professional sportsmanship will be prosecuted by the administration to maintain the dignity of this voting system. ##The author of an article may withdraw his or her own article from a nomination at any time. ##Eligible categories are decided in advance by the administration. ##Winners of the First, Second, and Third Annual Award cannot be nominated. This applies only to the articles, not the authors of the articles. With the exception of the Best Writer award, you are allowed to contest in a category even if you won an article in that same category before. #'Voting': ##Eligible users may vote for a maximum of two articles in a given category, and no more. You may vote for only one of your own articles for the entire election, no matter how many articles you have in how many categories. ##Please sign your vote with a non-bubble text signature to verify your identity. ##You do not have to vote for an article you nominated. ##The voting process has two stages: categorical and placement. In the categorical vote, users will have from 12:00 AM GMT, December 1st, 2011 to 12:00 AM GMT, December 21st, 2011 to vote. Articles will be voted upon according to category, and the one article with the most votes from each category will be confirmed as the winner of that category and will be pitted against the other winners of the other categories (excluding collaboration, novel, short fiction, and writer). The placement vote will begin at 12:00 AM GMT, December 21st, 2011 to 12:00 AM GMT and end on December 31st, 2011. All categorical and placement awards will be given on January 1st, 2012. ##Any categories with ties by 12:00 AM GMT on December 20th, 2011 (24 hours before the end of the categorical vote) will be remitted from public voting and will enter private administrative ballot to decide ties. The results of the ballot will be announced afterwards. All administrators with a registered email will have twenty-four hours to decide ties. ##Any articles with ties by 12:00 AM GMT on December 30st, 2011 (24 hours before the end of the placement vote) will be remitted from public voting and will enter private administrative ballot to decide ties. The results of the ballot will be announced afterwards. All administrators with a registered email will have twenty-four hours to decide ties. #'Winning': ##The article for the most votes in a given category will be formally acknowledged as the winner for the category, and the article and its author will be commended by an official award granted by the administration approximately by January 1st, 2012 and the end of the ceremony. Three winners from the placement vote will also be given their placement awards at the same time. ##In the event of a tie, a tiebreaker will be performed, and the winner will be decided by private administrative ballot. The ballot's content will be disclosed at the end of the ceremony. #'Questions': Please address bureaucrats Subtank or Spartan-091 if you have any questions whatsoever. Nomination Process Please fill out the following form for any nominations and file underneath the appropriate category: ARTICLENAME ( ) *'Name': ARTICLENAME *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (NUMBEROFVOTES) For the Most Unique Concept of the Year category, the special application to be used is as such: ARTICLENAME ( ) *'Name': ARTICLENAME *'Author': *'Nominator': *'Description': DESCRIPTIONOFARTICLE Voting (NUMBEROFVOTES) For the Best Writer of the Year category, the special application to be used is as such: *'Name': *'Nominator': Voting (NUMBEROFVOTES) Category Definitions Characters *Best SPARTAN of the Year — Any character enrolled in any SPARTAN program. *Best UNSC Personnel of the Year — Any character associated with the UNSC Marine Corps/Navy/Army/Air Force or any of its subordinate commands. Does not include SPARTANs. *Best Covenant Character of the Year — Any character of any of the Covenant Loyalist/Separatist species. *Best AI Character of the Year — Any AI (Artificial Intelligence) character of any species. *Best Unaffiliated Character of the Year — Any character that does not fit into any of the above character categories; includes, but is not limited to, Forerunners, Precursors, Flood, Hybrids, etc... Technologies *Best Starship of the Year — Any classification of spacecraft or individual vessel capable of extended extra-atmospheric travel. *Best Planetary Vehicle of the Year — Any classification of vehicle or individual vehicle capable of atmospheric or ground travel. *Best Weapon of the Year — Any weapon system of any allegiance and application. *Best Technology of the Year — Any physical object or knowledge paradigm used to influence an individual's interaction with the environment, including, but not limited to, defensive systems, non-weaponized combat equipment, etc... Does not include weapons. Societal *Best Event of the Year — Any event that occurs, including a military engagement (battle, campaign, or war) between any contenders for any length of time, or a non-military event. *Best Location of the Year — Any discreet location, including, but not limited to, planets, cities, structures, buildings, etc... *Best Organization of the Year — Any organization, including, but not limited to, governments, militaries, military subdivisions, civilian corporations, etc... *Best Species of the Year — Any sentient species of beings, including both singular races and races that are members of an alliance (such as the Covenant); alliances are not covered in this category, but instead are covered in the above "Best Organization of the Year" category Miscellaneous *Most Unique Concept of the Year — A never-before-seen concept used in Halo Fanon Wiki. Must give proper reasoning as to why this idea should be deemed "Most Unique" in the "Description" field *Best Collaboration of the Year — Any singular collaborative work, including but not limited to, roleplays, expanded universe, alternate universe, or other type of article written by two or more people that does not qualify for any of the above categories. *Best Novel of the Year — Best long literary fiction. A nominated novel does not have to be completed but substantial progress should have been made. There is a general minimum length threshold for novels to be considered. Does not include roleplays. *Best Short Fiction of the Year — Best short literary fiction. Short fictions can be nominated in groups or collections. It is recommended that the nominated fiction is completed. *Best Writer of the Year — For literary excellence in writing articles, fictions, roleplays, and/or productions. Placement *Third Place Article of the Year — The article with the third most number of votes in the "placement" stage. *Second Place Article of the Year — The article with the second most number of votes in the "placement" stage. *First Place Article of the Year — The article with the most number of votes in the "placement" stage. Nominations and Voting Best SPARTAN of the Year Tess-B312 ( ) *'Name': Tess-B312 *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (3) #Although she's not currently present, there's no denying that Ell is one of the best new writers we received this year (come back soon!). As with all her articles, she has placed a lot of effort into making her writing shine, and she has developed the mysterious Noble Six into someone I can easily believe to be the canon character. I have to admit that this is my favourite Six article on the wiki. 19:45, November 30, 2011 (EST) #Oh yes! Best Spartan not just as an article but as a character. The S312 Chronicles should be enough to convince anybody of that. [[User:Tuckerscreator|''Tuckerscreator]](stalk) 00:50, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #Plenty of well written content, visuals, and detail in Ell's article here. I haven't had a chance to read her literature yet, but if its just as quality as her biography on Tess, then i'm sure it'll be a winner. ---- Best UNSC Personnel of the Year Urban Holland ( ) *'Name': Urban Holland *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (3) #Once again, great job on the canon expansion, Grizz! :) 19:27, November 30, 2011 (EST) #Less Holland and more legend-wait for it-dary.--http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/halofanon/images/3/38/RGIsmall_red.png The Red General approaches 02:47, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #A well formatted article with a dose of Grizzlei's usual and attractive modernism. Brandon Smith ( ) *'Name': Brandon Smith *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #The article is detailed, the character is developed, the images are epic, the quotes are cool...what's not to like? Nice Stalin reference, btw :P 19:40, November 30, 2011 (EST) ---- Best Covenant Character of the Year Shinsu 'Refum ( ) *'Name': Shinsu 'Refum *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #Truly one of the best Covenant character articles I've read. It was an intense read, to say the least, but it was well worth my time to read it. And it should be well worth anybody considering voting for a Covenant character.--http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/halofanon/images/3/38/RGIsmall_red.png The Red General approaches 00:23, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #A well detailed and interesting article. Shinsu sounds like he definitely is present during ''Halo's timeline. Fira 'Demal ( ) *'Name': Fira 'Demal *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #A good, solid read, with superb imagery. Definitely recommend. Auguststorm1945 02:01, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #Coming from the man who won last year's Covenant Character award, Fira was one of Sona's articles that I always looked up to when I was making Stel. My definite choice, even if I manage to sneak in this year. But if I don't, all my votes go for Sona! WoooOOooOOooOo! 05:54, December 1, 2011 (UTC) ---- Best AI Character of the Year Susano ( ) *'Name': Susano *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #Questionable avatar image aside, article is well-written and has interesting connections to LOMI's other work. And it's very Japanese. 20:15, November 30, 2011 (EST) #As per Sona. Dotto ( ) *'Name': Dotto *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #This Auntie Dot expansion article looks very nice, and is interesting how it connects both to Nano's Spartan character and AAO itself. 21:42, November 30, 2011 (EST) Comments Er, I'm not sure. I believe it still has some plausibility issues left to mend, like her being directly on Carter's Pelican, or being directly assigned to NOBLE Team. [[User:Tuckerscreator|''Tuckerscreator]](stalk) 02:47, December 1, 2011 (UTC) ---- Best Unaffiliated Character of the Year David Kahn ( ) *'Name': David Kahn *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #I just love this character, in many more ways than I care to explain. This has been a long-time article on Halo Fanon, but I can shamelessly say that it has become significantly better ever since it was integrated into AAO ;) 19:24, November 30, 2011 (EST) #Definitely. No doubt that this is probably one of Actene's true masterpieces. Codename: OZYMANDIAS ( ) *'Name': Codename: OZYMANDIAS *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #ONI intrigue may abound on this site, and it appears to be seeping into canon as well, but there are few characters that achieve the evil ONI mastermind quite as well as OZYMANDIAS (OZY, not OLYNDICUS; I know, it's worse than Sauron and Saruman) manages to pull it off. Even though he hasn't been delved into fully by Specops just yet, I'm sure we'll get some enjoyable moments in the future --Am I a Lion, or a Lamb? Or a Boy? Saint o The Lost Books 14:48, December 1, 2011 (UTC) ---- Best Starship of the Year [[Remembrance-class Frigate|''Remembrance-class frigate]] ( ) *'Name': ''Remembrance''-class frigate *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #Arguably the most outstanding ship class articles written this year, I proudly and unhesitantly give my nomination to Athena32, for once again a job well done. 19:08, November 30, 2011 (EST) #Highly detailed, the Remembrance-class is one of the most well-written ship pieces out there. ---- Best Planetary Vehicle of the Year M104 Komodo Special Assault Vehicle ( ) *'Name': M104 Komodo Special Assault Vehicle *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Nano's certainly got a knack for making these "sleek" articles. Especially when the vehicle in question is the 26th century Batmobile. 21:45, November 30, 2011 (EST) ---- Best Weapon of the Year UNSC Ammunition ( ) *'Name': UNSC Ammunition *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #This qualifies under the Best Weapon category, I suppose. Athena32's creativity never ceases to amaze me when I read articles like this. I personally would be short on ideas and/or spend countless hours trying to find ways to write this kind of article. 19:17, November 30, 2011 (EST) M84 heavy machine gun ( ) *'Name': M84 heavy machine gun *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Here's another one for the Best Weapon category, once again from Athena32. Very good article that far surpasses its undetailed Halopedian counterpart. 19:21, November 30, 2011 (EST ---- Best Technology of the Year ---- Best Event of the Year Interplanetary Conflict ( ) *'Name': Interplanetary Conflict *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Could use a few images, but otherwise the article is great! Can't really go into detail without writing an entire paragraph relating what it's about, so I'll let you read it and decide for yourself whether to vote for it. 20:28, November 30, 2011 (EST) ---- Best Location of the Year Fell Justice ( ) *'Name': Fell Justice *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #One of the top planets I've seen on this site, while I probably wouldn't want to liv there myself, it would make for an interesting National Geographic special.--http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/halofanon/images/3/38/RGIsmall_red.png The Red General approaches 00:13, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #Not to say that the other contender isn't a worthy nominee, but after seeing LOMI pump everything he's got into every aspect of this article I have to give it my vote. Possibly the best planet article on the site as far as I'm concerned. Oceanus ( ) *'Name': Oceanus *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Dragonclaws doesn't do much in the way of articles, but Oceanus is definitely a fine of example of when he chooses to do one. A very nice planet with an interesting past. --Am I a Lion, or a Lamb? Or a Boy? Saint o The Lost Books 14:59, December 1, 2011 (UTC) ---- Best Organization of the Year Interspecies Union ( and ) *'Name': Interspecies Union *'Author': and *'Nominator': Voting (2) #Well-written and well-illustrated. Enjoyed it. Auguststorm1945 02:12, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #Well written and formatted. This is defines the most detailed aspects AAO has to offer. Project PERSIAN (Labyrinth) ( ) *'Name': Project PERSIAN (Labyrinth) *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Although I inspired and conceptualized the Persians, as well as worked out their last member Miranda Talavera, it was Specops who ended up making something of them beyond anything I would've thought to try. Initially crafting the article without knowledge that I'd pioneered the idea, the article is nevertheless everything I would have hoped to tried myself: as such, while it's inherent beauty and craftsmanship are evident, I won't deny a little personal bias, like it's the article I never had ;) --Am I a Lion, or a Lamb? Or a Boy? Saint o The Lost Books 14:51, December 1, 2011 (UTC) ---- Best Species of the Year ---- Most Unique Concept of the Year BBC News/January 2555 ( and ) *'Name': BBC News/January 2555 *'Author': and *'Nominator': *'Description': An in-universe daily news bulletin taking place in the Grizzverse. Primarily following the Doisac War, the upcoming elections, and social life, I feel like this was a major refinement over the November '54 archive previously nominated for this award last year. The only downside is that I didn't have the time to continue it for the entire year. Perhaps I should restart it next year? Voting (2) #Probably one of my more interesting, well-written, dedicated, and thought out pieces of fiction for the Grizzverse and something i'd like to get back into. #I had a lot of fun doing this with Grizzlei! Certainly was a learning experience. Joshua (Talk) Operation: VORAUSSICHT ( ) *'Name': Operation: VORAUSSICHT *'Author': *'Nominator': *'Description': A unique log-type article with contributions by Halo Fanon's less recognized stars, this absolute beast is completely original and an article worth reading. Voting (3) #One of the most interesting articles here on Halo Fanon. Fantastic storyline keeps the reader delved into the seemingly paragraphs of Specops' most detailed article. #Specops! Continue this! [[User:Tuckerscreator|''Tuckerscreator]](stalk) 15:38, December 2, 2011 (UTC) #I won't lie when I say this is my absolute favorite article on this site, period. VORAUSSICHT is an involving and intricate piece, that sets a high standard for quality. Religion *'Name': Religion *'Author': *'Nominator': *'Description': An article detailing many of the religions of the Haloverse, telling of their practices, histories, and influences upon the galaxy. Also includes brief bios of some major religious figures, discussion of controversies, brief notes on terms, and some behind the scenes notes. Voting (0) ---- Best Collaboration of the Year RP:Losing Hope/Content ( ) *'Name': RP:Losing Hope *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #Due to this being one of the longest page on the whole wiki and a total collaboration between many of the users on the site, I nominate Losing Hope as this years best collaboration. ---''It's all here, black and white, clear as crystal. 22:24, December 2, 2011 (UTC) #Actually, it's been surpassed in length by Dwindling Flame, but I believe Losing Hope deserves the recognition as best RP and best collab. It's been a starting point for many new users, and while it was started last year, it's been the only one to my knowledge in recent memory that was successfully completed. That Damn Sniper, sniping. 23:34, December 2, 2011 (UTC) RP:Dwindling Flame (multiple authors) *'Name': RP:Dwindling Flame *'Author': , , and others *'Nominator': Voting (4) #Dwindling Flame received overwhelming enthusiasm from the community when it was first conceived. While it is fair to say that the actual participation was considerably lower, here SPARTAN 119 and Ahalosniper and others have, I think, created a wonderful RP that all the original members combined would have been proud of. This RP has grown slowly but noticeably over the course of the year; yet it seems to have fallen off the radar of spoken-about fanon. Perhaps because the community at large feels guilty that it didn't live up to the responsibilities it created by signing up (that's at least why I personally haven't thought about Dwindling Flame.) I think this is a shame, because it's a brilliant piece of fiction- hence my nomination here. #Apologies for withdrawing from the RP, but I decided that I'm not too fond of roleplays in general. Nonetheless, it's undeniable how popular and well-received Dwindling Flame had been. While I had my doubts at first at its success (the name itself had been the butt of many jokes in 2010 to early 2011), but I quickly ate my words at its ability to carry out farther than I ever expected it to. Well done, founders and participants alike, you should all be very proud of yourselves. 22:19, December 2, 2011 (EST) #I think everything that I could say, has been said already. While I'm not one to really do RPs, I found this one particularly appealing. Unfortunately, I can't say I was ever active in the RP, but that was largely my fault. Anyways, good RP for those who actually stuck in it.--http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/halofanon/images/3/38/RGIsmall_red.png The Red General approaches 04:21, December 4, 2011 (UTC) #Second Lieutenant Keith Johnson com link 06:30, December 4, 2011 (UTC) ---- Best Novel of the Year Duties and Desires: Part 1 ( ) *'Name': Duties and Desires: Part 1 *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #As if to exemplify my nomination for Sona as writer of the year, this by him is one of the best and most enjoyable novels I've read in 2011. Duties and Desires thus has my vote for novel of the year! ---- Best Short Fiction of the Year The S312 Chronicles ( ) *'Name': The S312 Chronicles *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Unfinished it is, but what's been written is perhaps some of the best and most emotionally written stories on Halo Fanon to date. Laconia's stories of Tess-B312's progression is a fascinating narrative.[[User:Tuckerscreator|Tuckerscreator]](stalk) Hussar ( ) *'Name': Hussar *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #A brief but well-written story by Grizzlei that takes a step back from what most people see in war at first glance and give it deeper thought. This is what I consider one of those "quality over quantity" fictions. 11:59, November 30, 2011 (EST) Halo: Beta Red ( ) *'Name': Halo: Beta Red *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #A very nice read that shows the struggles of a Spartan, and just what goes on within their minds. I won't spoil it entirely for anyone, since it is a longer read for a short fiction, but it offers a portion of Spartan 501's unique view on the three Red Team Spartans on the ''Spirit of Fire. Definitely a small masterpiece. --Am I a Lion, or a Lamb? Or a Boy? Saint o The Lost Books 23:53, December 2, 2011 (UTC) Remember ( ) *'Name': Remember *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Laconia's short stories are all very emotional, exploratory character slices, short in length but broad in power. Go here for excellent writing! [[User:Tuckerscreator|''Tuckerscreator]](stalk) Fragments 01: Ghosts and Glass ( ) *'Name': Fragments 01: Ghosts and Glass *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (1) A brief but powerful and emotive personal account of Beta Company's involvement in Operation: TORPEDO. By a less well-known member of the site but no less brilliant for it. If I could tell a story half as well as this... [[Halo: Unending Sorrow|''Unending Sorrow]] ( ) *'Name': ''Unending Sorrow'' *'Author': *'Nominator': Voting (2) #I feel cheap nominating myself, but I feel that this piece deserves recognition. It is one of my best short fiction attempts and it has recieved good reviews from everyone who has read it. For it to be awarded the Annual Award would be a great accomplishment. Joshua (Talk) 21:49, December 2, 2011 (UTC) #I particularly enjoyed this emotional and immersive short fiction from Josh, which I think ranks among the best on the site. The last line sticks with me as one of the best and most poignant I've read here on the wiki. Once again I find myself reading an article and envying the writer's superior talent! ---- Best Writer of the Year *'Name': *'Nominator': Voting (3) #One of the few writers who remained active throughout the year. Not only remaining active, but providing the site with amazing articles and art.--http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/halofanon/images/3/38/RGIsmall_red.png The Red General approaches 00:04, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #As a Good Articles panel judge, it was always a treat to encounter one of his articles while sifting through the nominations log last spring. I don't think that there was one single article out of the collection that he accumulated with a GA badge on it that wasn't absolutely entertaining to read. Add in the fact that he's a great guy to have a conversation with, and you have one great writer! #Matt, along with Actene, is one of the best writers on the site. His skill for culture and technology is almost unparrelled. His characters give fresh life to a style that should be dead; a difficult feat. As for his novelistic prose, it is gritty and hardboiled. He knows how to sustain a reader. Matt deserves the highest praise and it is such a shame that he is against Actene, for they both deserve this award. Joshua (Talk) *'Name': *'Nominator': Voting (4) #A very skilled writer who has outdone himself this year by writing not one, but two lengthy stories that are not only great to read, but also adds lots of depth to my beloved AAO project. Actene was the first user that came to my mind when I thought of nominees for the Best Writer award. 19:10, November 30, 2011 (EST) #Actene's prose is beautiful. Archetypical articles on this wiki are personified by the glamorous war hero, pyrrhic battles against the Covenant, and other tropes. Actene's writing is truly a delight to read — characters are shockingly complex and morally wretching; his characters defy convention and are candidly fantastic. I can only give my strongest recommendation to Actene, one of the most superlative writers I've ever read. RelentlessRecusant, Co-Founder and Bureaucrat Talk • • 10:41, December 2, 2011 (UTC) #One of the two best writers on the site. He has a natural gift for characters that are new and innovating, gorgeously complex and yet, easy to read and understand. His prose is wonderful and is beautifully woven. It is almost poetic and it has a rhythmic quality that I have only seen among the best published authors. He is, as Kyle said, a superlative author. I am supremely jealous of his writing ability. I was fortunate enough to work with him whenever he was starting out, he is the nicest guy and as I said on Matt's vote, he deserves this award. For him not to have received it by now, is a shame and a travesty. Joshua (Talk) #Looking at the nominated users in this category, there isn't one person who I think doesn't deserve recognition as a good writer. But ultimately, on consideration that the award is best writer, my second vote in this category is for Actene. I agree with previous voters wholly that his writing talent and style are simply unmatched on the site. Many times I have read sections of his fiction and been simply astounded by the level of creativity, detail, suspense and emotion he is able to weave into the simplest scenes- something I have tried to replicate and take inspiration from in my own fiction, to far less stunning result. It is peculiar that Actene hasn't won this award already- so I vote for him now. *'Name': *'Nominator': Voting (4) #This hasn't been a massively active year on the site, but bucking the trend this year was Sona 'Demal. He's not only kept the AAO universe alive and expanding another year, but he has added to the site a number of great new novels and multiple top-notch artiches -in addition to being an approachable and all-round decent guy. For these reasons, Sona gets my nomination/vote for best writer this year. #Whenever I wrote on this wiki, Sona's been the person I always looked up to. He's been my sort of personal mentor throughout 2010, and as a result of my "undercover" status during 2011, I've been quietly observing Sona's companionship with Actene, and I gotta say his writing has gotten even better. A person to always look for inspiration. WoooOOooOOooOo! 06:33, December 1, 2011 (UTC) #An honest and helpful writer. Sona simply deserves recognition in the community for once. #While I really am flattered by the votes I'm getting, I don't think enough people realize just how much work Sona has cranked out over the past year. Not only does he sit on a pile of finished stories (far more than I have completed), he pretty much runs the AAO project singlehandedly. Perhaps his most striking work goes into the AAO templates he works on and tweaks constantly really speak volumes of his dedication, especially since coding is probably the most boring task I can think of as far as editing projects go. *'Name': *'Nominator': Voting (1) #Ell's time on here has been pretty short, but what she has brought has been stuff of exemplary quality. Laconia has explored a real depth of character in her universe, and with a great writing style to boot. And don't worry, she promises to return, and when she does there is no doubt that there will be more amazing stories yet to come.